For those of you who are outdoor enthusiasts and enjoy camping in all its various forms, you have probably observed the growing practice of waste reduction. In small green spaces, ‘car-camping’ pullouts, to provincial and federal national parks, this aspect of waste management is growing. Success is an excellent foundation for more success. Real, measurable changes in behaviour have been established in the world of camping, and continue to spread among its enthusiasts in both private and public camping areas.
I was introduced recently to the more rigorous forms of ‘Leave No Trace’ (LNT) camping during a two-week exercise in exertion in the USA Rocky Mountains. The faithful of LNT-camping certainly enjoy their trade, using conventional methods of not-so-gentle persuasion upon those of us who had previously thought we were going on holiday. They begin with education and training, but also wield the slightly more effective sticks of daily requirement and enforcement.
For the education part, LNT-camping has seven rules: Plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, leave what you find, respect wildlife, minimize campfire impacts, dispose of waste properly, and be considerate of other visitors.
I felt I already had ‘dispose of waste properly’ covered pretty well, so I was ready to contribute to the discussion sessions. That is, until you learn about waste management LNT style. Aside from the actual food you consume, everyone packs out (takes home) 100% of what was brought in.
For the training part, one big theme is one-piece wrappers. Meaning that anything you have which comes in a wrapper, plastic bag or other container, stays as one piece. There are no tear-off pieces when opening; you simply leave the top on (or attached) so as to avoid small pieces of litter in the outdoors.
Daily requirements included protecting your group’s accumulating trash pile from small mammals and the local bears over the duration of your experience. Use of bear bags and tie-down procedures were put into effect each evening. If you made a campfire, the cold ashes were collected in plastic bags prior to departure the next morning, carried for about a kilometre, and scattered here and there for proper disposal.
Meals are everything during primitive camping, and LNT folk have thought this aspect of waste reduction through – mostly through considerable front-end planning and yes, enforcement. You learn to prepare only the exact amount of food that your group will eat. Individual food portions are calculated and recipes followed. The backcountry has little room for bad cooking or bland vegetables. At the end of the meal, there is no waste: all food must be consumed. Enforcement boils down to one of your crew serving as the human ‘sump’ to force down any meal remnants.
As a result of the Leave No Trace program, during my 75-mile trip there was no visible waste of any kind. Variants of such programs in less rustic locations include signage and waste receptacles to encourage the park-going public to carry in only those products and items that it intends to carry out. Overall it is an effective message from our waste-minded colleagues in the camping industry.
Greg Vogt is managing director of ISWA and ISWA Editor of Waste Management World e-mail: gvogt@iswa.org
